Skate and Skate 2 were very successful games. Not only did the developers at EA Blackbox enter the niche skating genre, they dethroned Tony Hawk as the choice skating game. The approach of cinematic camera work and skill based controls built a huge following among the real life skaters and bored and dejected fans of Activision’s Hawk games. Skate and Skate 2 were great games, but not very approachable to a curious gamer looking for something accessible and immediately fun, a victim of their own successes. With Skate 3 EA Blackbox not only made an approachable game for everyone to enjoy, they made a game that should make their community happy for the social networking features included this time around that will give mad props to the community luminaries that have been creating all kinds of gnarly content in the name of just being awesome.
Skate 3 has the ability to take a complete novice and bring them up to speed in a flash. With the use of basic tutorials and Jason Lee, non-skaters will know him from My Name is Earl, acting the role of a Texas gym coach named Coach Frank, Skate 3 has better pacing from the start. Where the first game took the player from a zero to a hero, and Skate 2 took the player from fallen star looking for redemption, Skate 3 is all about being the legend and building an empire. It shouldn’t be a huge shock that a majority of the focus is on the team aspect of skating.
With teams the central focus, this is EA Blackbox’s way of giving a huge high-five to the community they built over the course of the series. The largest features included this time around predominately add and augment social features built into the game. There is online bookmarking to seamlessly operate between the Skate website and the game. Skate.park allows for players to freely build and create new maps and courses, which then allows for the people who download the park to further iterate on the level and make it something new. Even accomplishments from friends will stream into the game during the load screens. To give further props, that is all accomplished through the Skate.feed. The Skate.feed is the first thing that appears on the screen after the intro video and acts as the portal of learning all about what has happened since the gamer played last. Social aspects to gaming are increasing important to video games since the days of gathering around a couch camp fire sharing tips about hidden secrets in Super Mario Bros. 3 is all but over and Skate 3 nails it. The developers can feature things on their end, send out communications directly to the news tab and players can manage it all on their end. Allowing for so many ways of interaction brings together the idea of working as a team. To show reward players for creating all kinds of crazy things, Skate 3 rewards its players with “board sales,” it ties in with the theme of building a skating empire. More board sales mean more money, and more money means for influence to bring new people into a team.
Team play is done two ways, one being the standard AI players and the other being the tried and true method of co-op play. Throughout the preview of the game, team play was extremely fun to play as the modes were designed to compliment co-op. One of the most fun modes was to set two teams loose on a section of the map and have them claim designated areas by tricking off them. The team with the most claimed areas wins. What works about that is when the players communicate to divide and conquer. It is necessary to divide and conquer the map, while keeping in mind the strength of the players. Another team mode that was raucously fun to play was a game mode that turned the bail system into a point grab game. It wasn’t pure skating but the insanity of trying to tally up the most bodily damage tickles a funny bone. Another important feature to the online and co-op modes is an identity. Player creation features toggles and sliders to adjust body type and face shape. Then there are tons of options to decorate the characters with hair, clothing, tattoos and other accessories.
This looks to be the best Skate game yet. The boosted community features should take that dedicated fanbase to the next level with the tools and offerings included on the disc. The nice thing is that with some gentler tutorials, Skate is now more accessible than ever to anyone looking for a fun game to play. Look for the full review on Kombo soon.
